stories

Seating industry veteran Joan Padgitt, PT, ATP has long been associated with Ride Designs — originally working in sales and education capacities, and more recently as a consulting clinician in our specialized on-site Aspen Seating Clinic.

This spring Joan suddenly became the patient. She sustained multiple localized intracerebral hemorrhages on May 10, 2017. Joan was hospitalized in the Neuro Intensive Care Unit for 21 days with cerebral edema, brain compression and acute respiratory failure with tracheostomy and ventilator placement. Her condition was quite dire.

Eventually, Joan was discharged to a long-term acute care hospital. She specified her own wheelchair seating, including a Java Cushion and Java Back. Next she was transferred to an acute rehabilitation facility — for a total of 47 days in the hospital.

Now mobilizing with a cane, Joan explains:

“Hello colleagues! First of all, if this is first time you are learning about my medical event, I want you to know that I’m doing okay. Initially, I was making exponential improvements and now, instead of daily improvements, I’m seeing small weekly gains in my recovery. I’m in awe of my colleagues near and far who offered prayers and words of support in my recovery.

I’ve been discharged from all my outpatient therapies and continue my rehabilitation program everyday. I have had a lot of insights from this experience and have been invited to present an inservice to the ICU team who took care of me. I’m not yet back to work, but am working hard toward that goal.

Here I am returning the wheelchair and seating system loaned to me by Ride Designs… how often does that happen in our industry? I want to thank all those involved in the acquisition of the equipment loaned to me during my short stint as a wheelchair user, including Cindy Duff, PT, ATP/SMS at Denver Health, Leslie McLachlan, MSPT/ATP at Tilite, Sunrise Medical, and Ryan Crosby, ATP/SMS at Ride Designs.”

While Joan still has a long way to go in her recovery, she is positive and determined… and we are actively cheering her on. To learn more about Joan’s story, including how to help, click here. You can also contact Joan directly and wish her well via email at jepadgitt(insert “at” symbol)comcast.net.

Led by Tamara Kittelson-Aldred, MS, OTR/L, ATP/SMS of Posture 24/7 in Montana, a group of clinicians and students traveled from the U.S. with new seating to help empower Peruvian families caring for children with disabilities. The volunteers’ efforts were met with great enthusiasm and gratitude.

We were happy to be able to contribute to Eleanore’s Project‘s work in Peru by donating Java Backs, aka “Espaldares Java,” in a variety of sizes. Seeing immediate improvements in the function and posture of the recipients was very gratifying to all involved.

Such trips require creative thinking and problem solving on the fly, more than we might imagine! Tamara has written a photo-filled account of this amazing trip, the challenges faced, and more about the families who visited the clinic… read it here.

To follow the ongoing work of Eleanore’s Project, check out the Facebook page.